British Firms Could Be Linked to Slavery, Murder and Ecological Abuse Overseas – NGO

1 April 2015 (RT)* – Hundreds of British firms operating abroad may be implicated in severe human rights abuses such as modern slavery, poverty-level wages, beatings, killings and environmental damage, an international NGO warns.

A report released by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre on Wednesday found that British businesses impact heavily on communities and individuals around the globe.

The NGO’s research suggests UK firms are linked to human rights scandals worldwide, many of which occur in developing nations.

This improper conduct is compounded by “critical weaknesses” in UK regulation that leave victims in foreign states defenseless against firms’ “negligent or reckless” practices, the research found.

Out of sight, out of mind?

The Resource Centre monitors the human rights impacts of more than 6,000 firms in over 180 states. When human rights concerns are raised by civilians, it approaches the firms in question and sounds them out.

Since 2005, the Resource Centre has contacted 303 UK-based firms across the world about allegations of human rights violations.

The NGO’s report says the majority of these allegations center on UK firms’ practices abroad, particularly in the Global South. Its research uncovered “critical weaknesses in UK Government policy and action on business and human rights.”

The Resource Centre warned that victims of “corporate abuse” face diminished access to justice in Britain, particularly since the coalition government introduced the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.

“Allegations against extractive companies were 47 percent of the total against UK companies,” it said.

“While London has become a global hub for mining and extractive industries, these companies are often implicated in some of the most egregious allegations of human rights abuses, including displacements, killings, and large-scale pollution.”

The NGO probed one such British firm, Glencore, regarding its conduct in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Among the charges leveled at the firm were claims it had contaminated local communities’ water supplies, and was linked to brutal beatings and killings by police.

Glencore insisted it “is committed to upholding human rights,” and refuted allegations that it “manipulates DRC regulation to suit its interests.”

The Resource Centre’s report also uncovered UK firms’ links to allegations of labor rights abuses, particularly within the fashion industry. Allegations of modern slavery also surfaced in its study.